2017/2018: The Year of the Greenhouse

By Emily Nobes
It’s difficult to find an area of the school where the spirit of Notre Dame doesn’t thrive. Whether it be academics, athletics, or clubs, ND has an affinity for making things great. There is no sign of an exception when it comes Notre Dame’s Horticulture and greenhouse initiatives, which took this school year by storm.
Horticulture has been at ND for a while, lead by Mr. Nason and his team of enthusiastic students. This year, the Horticulture program, lead by Mr. Nason and driven by his team of enthusiastic students exploded into one of the standout features at Notre Dame. No ND student is unaware of the work going on in the greenhouse. The Horticulture Club received a wonderful turnout this year, gaining members all year and combined forces with the STEAM club. Mr. Guisti and Mr. Bozelli joined the Horticulture team this year as well, playing a key role alongside Mr. Nason.
It’s difficult to find an area of the school where the spirit of Notre Dame doesn’t thrive. Whether it be academics, athletics, or clubs, ND has an affinity for making things great. There is no sign of an exception when it comes Notre Dame’s Horticulture and greenhouse initiatives, which took this school year by storm.
Horticulture has been at ND for a while, lead by Mr. Nason and his team of enthusiastic students. This year, the Horticulture program, lead by Mr. Nason and driven by his team of enthusiastic students exploded into one of the standout features at Notre Dame. No ND student is unaware of the work going on in the greenhouse. The Horticulture Club received a wonderful turnout this year, gaining members all year and combined forces with the STEAM club. Mr. Guisti and Mr. Bozelli joined the Horticulture team this year as well, playing a key role alongside Mr. Nason.

“We are well on our way to making the Horticulture area a key focus for our students and school.” Says Mr. Guisti to InsideND, “The horticulture club and students along with other classes from different disciplines including; technology, culinary, social justice, construction, business, and sciences have all contributed and continue to contribute to the development and focus on our key initiatives.”
This year, the horticulture program worked hard to lay the groundwork for what they are hoping to be an equally productive 2018/19 school year. The greenhouse and outdoor gardens were tidied and revamped thanks to hardworking students and staff and new gardens and flowerbeds continue to be added to provide the Horticulture program with room to grow.
This year, the greenhouse opened its doors to anyone keen to spend some time there, so it has been buzzing with students conduct various projects and experiments for classes and unwinding through gardening.
The horticulture crew have formulated a list of five major initiatives that they have been working on this year and plan to continue to execute in the coming year. “The five major initiatives are designed to educate and empower our students to create a better local and global community.” Explains Mr. Guisti, “The goal is to expose students to project based learning using a cross curricular approach where students from different grades and disciplines bring their interests, skills and talents and work together to make a difference.”
This year, the horticulture program worked hard to lay the groundwork for what they are hoping to be an equally productive 2018/19 school year. The greenhouse and outdoor gardens were tidied and revamped thanks to hardworking students and staff and new gardens and flowerbeds continue to be added to provide the Horticulture program with room to grow.
This year, the greenhouse opened its doors to anyone keen to spend some time there, so it has been buzzing with students conduct various projects and experiments for classes and unwinding through gardening.
The horticulture crew have formulated a list of five major initiatives that they have been working on this year and plan to continue to execute in the coming year. “The five major initiatives are designed to educate and empower our students to create a better local and global community.” Explains Mr. Guisti, “The goal is to expose students to project based learning using a cross curricular approach where students from different grades and disciplines bring their interests, skills and talents and work together to make a difference.”

The list of initiatives include:
If you’re interested in learning more about Horticulture and the operation of the greenhouse, drop by the greenhouse, the doors are always open, and make sure the follow their progress throughout the next year on InsideND and the STEAM website. Stay green ND!
- Community gardens, which have been created with the hope of growing food to be donated to various charitable causes in our area.
- Social justice gardens, an area of plants and artwork that creates a gathering space for students and staff to focus on mental health, human rights, and indigenous education.
- STEAM incorporation, introducing technology such as robotic farming and hi tech seed germination, biology, chemistry, data collection and analysis (with the help of new sensors and a weather station), and coding projects.
- Culinary involvement, providing fresh food and ingredients to culinary students with the hope of teaching them about biology and sustainability (and providing them with some pretty delicious, healthy food).
- Sustainability, hoping to focus on sustainability within the greenhouse and throughout their operations, including renewable energy, efficient watering systems, composting, and recycling.
If you’re interested in learning more about Horticulture and the operation of the greenhouse, drop by the greenhouse, the doors are always open, and make sure the follow their progress throughout the next year on InsideND and the STEAM website. Stay green ND!
ND SPRING SPORTS UPDATE
By Daniella Lopez
Notre Dame has many amazing sports teams if you didn't know already. And so many of them have done wonderfully this season. Here's a look back at how they did (or are still doing). The boys lacrosse team coached by Mr. Wozney is headed to OFSAA in Ottawa next week. They were also HCAA finalists. Standout players include: Braedan Saris, Kenny Sproat and Yvon Bolduc. Good job at making ND proud boys. Our junior girls soccer team's season has unfortunately come to an end with 1 win, 6 loses and 1 tie. Coached by Ms. Carlone and Ms. Bernar. Good thing there's always next year girls. |

However, the senior girls soccer team is OFSAA bound after beating Nelson in the GHAC finals. The girls went 5-1-2 with wins, loses and ties in the regular season. But went undefeated in the playoffs. This great season could not be done without the coaching staff of Mr. Downey and Ms. Giardina.
The junior boys soccer team coached by Ms. Raso, Ms. Tambasco and Mr. Boselli has come to an end. Going 0-8-0 in wins, loses and ties in the regular season. We're still proud of you!
The senior boys soccer team went 0-5-3 in the regular season with wins, loses and ties. This team was coached by Mr. McDermott, Mr. Martorelli and Mr. DeMediros.
The junior boys soccer team coached by Ms. Raso, Ms. Tambasco and Mr. Boselli has come to an end. Going 0-8-0 in wins, loses and ties in the regular season. We're still proud of you!
The senior boys soccer team went 0-5-3 in the regular season with wins, loses and ties. This team was coached by Mr. McDermott, Mr. Martorelli and Mr. DeMediros.

The girls rugby team coached by Mr. Montoya are OFSAA bound to Stratford. The girls did amazing this season! And some key players were Camilla Izquirdo and Emily Paravano. Keep up the good work girls.
ND's Ultimate Frisbee team coached by Mr. Bryson and Ms. Kerwin has come to an end though we can't wait for next year.
The track and field team coached by Mr. Snyed and Ms. Messinger did awesome. Six Notre Dame athletes are headed to OFSAA because of the top five finishes at GHAC.
Shoutouts go to Victoria Starcevic who placed 5th in midget 200 meter. Aidan Donen who placed 3rd in the junior 1500 meter and 3000 meter. As well as a HCAA champion in the 3000 meter. Elizabeth Young placed 2nd in the junior long jump and captured the HCAA championship. Ethan Belanger captured GHAC titles in the midget 1500 meter and 3000 meter. ND's leading female athlete Kayla Overholt placed 1st in the junior 3000 and 1500 meter, and 2nd in the 800 meter where she was HCAA champion. Lastly, ND's top performer was senior Luke Mawhinney who won the 2000 meter steeplechase, 1500 meter and 3000 meter.
ND's Ultimate Frisbee team coached by Mr. Bryson and Ms. Kerwin has come to an end though we can't wait for next year.
The track and field team coached by Mr. Snyed and Ms. Messinger did awesome. Six Notre Dame athletes are headed to OFSAA because of the top five finishes at GHAC.
Shoutouts go to Victoria Starcevic who placed 5th in midget 200 meter. Aidan Donen who placed 3rd in the junior 1500 meter and 3000 meter. As well as a HCAA champion in the 3000 meter. Elizabeth Young placed 2nd in the junior long jump and captured the HCAA championship. Ethan Belanger captured GHAC titles in the midget 1500 meter and 3000 meter. ND's leading female athlete Kayla Overholt placed 1st in the junior 3000 and 1500 meter, and 2nd in the 800 meter where she was HCAA champion. Lastly, ND's top performer was senior Luke Mawhinney who won the 2000 meter steeplechase, 1500 meter and 3000 meter.

The girls SloPitch finished 2nd overall in regular season only losing to Corpus Christi. By the coaching of Ms. Vaughn, Mr. Low and Ms. Bolton. The girls have made playoffs and we look forward to cheering them on. Team leaders as well as star players are Melina Delulio and Alyssa Biase. Alyssa had been a vocal leader and an essential part of their infield. Whereas Melina has had multiple home runs this season. Lovely work ladies.
Lastly, the boys baseball team were HCAA finalists and were coached by Mr. Shaw and Mr. Leyland. The team finished the regular season with a record of 4-2 which put the team in 4th place. The team won a quarterfinal game against Bishop reading 16-1. They won a semi-final game against the undefeated Holy Trinity a 12-0. Unfortunately the team lost a hard championship game against Christ the King 2-1.
The team was led by the pitching of Brandt Boye, Charlie Lisac and Eric Martyn. The team was led by the hitting of Spencer Jamieson, Nicholas Thibodeau and Noah Bertin.
The season was thought to have been a rebuilding year but with every player eligible to return the future of Notre Dame baseball looks very bright.
And not just the future of ND baseball but the future of many Notre Dame sports looks very bright. We can't wait to see what happens in the upcoming years. Keep on giving it your best work because all of Notre Dame will be cheering you on.
Lastly, the boys baseball team were HCAA finalists and were coached by Mr. Shaw and Mr. Leyland. The team finished the regular season with a record of 4-2 which put the team in 4th place. The team won a quarterfinal game against Bishop reading 16-1. They won a semi-final game against the undefeated Holy Trinity a 12-0. Unfortunately the team lost a hard championship game against Christ the King 2-1.
The team was led by the pitching of Brandt Boye, Charlie Lisac and Eric Martyn. The team was led by the hitting of Spencer Jamieson, Nicholas Thibodeau and Noah Bertin.
The season was thought to have been a rebuilding year but with every player eligible to return the future of Notre Dame baseball looks very bright.
And not just the future of ND baseball but the future of many Notre Dame sports looks very bright. We can't wait to see what happens in the upcoming years. Keep on giving it your best work because all of Notre Dame will be cheering you on.